Milwaukee engineer builds a case to land LEGO gig

When the LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Chicago put out a casting call for a master builder, Andrew Stigen stepped up. And now the young man from Milwaukee is one of eight contenders for the full-time job competing in a public "build-off" on March 4. »Read Full Blog Post

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I know many adults who use LEGOs as a precursor to designing architecture and engineering projects. Last summer there was a LEGO display at Festa Italiana that included the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Miller Park, and a few other really cool models of real structures, built by UWM students. The LEGO Architecture series includes the White House, Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, Space Needle, and other world landmarks. LEGO is also used in robotics competitions for young people, and for people like me, it offers simple ways to reinforce things I've learned regarding electronics. Besides, I still like playing with LEGO and I am over 40. And a woman to boot! It goes way beyond the bucket of multicolored bricks now. For some of us, it helps us keep young at heart!

I would counter that with the fact that the LEGO bricks can be used in an almost limitless number of ways and that they last forever. Unlike a $60 video game that once you have beaten it, or a new system comes out, it is useless.

Good luck! Legos were wonderful for my children, too -- superb for teaching those small-motor skills, which is why I started mine on Legos. But then I saw how marvelous they are for cultivating creativity, imagination, and more -- and for hours of play time for parents with children. I'm looking forward to getting out the Legos for grandchildren one day, when you can bet that I will happily be playing with Legos again, too.

Pretstige,Andy is one of my really good friends who I've known for the last 6 years. He has a full time job, a 4 year degree in architecture and decided to go back to school full time to work on a double major. I've met Andys parents and I can assure you that they are indeed very proud of him as well as the rest of his family and friends. Could you please provide the link for the rest of us to see where a major newspaper wrote about your accomplishments?

mmathu, you're just revealing your ignorance. You could look it up: Many people return to UWM (and other campuses) after graduation to do a second major. Smart people do it. You, apparently, are not one of them.

And the result, I ought to have added, is called a double major, too, whether done simultaneously or sequentially -- as, after all, many students who do double majors as undergraduates also are doing their double majors sequentially, completing one and then the other.

Andrew- Congratulations on being a finalist for Master Model Builder. This will be a wonderful opportunity. The prospect of turning a life long passion into an occupation is something very few of us ever have the guts to consider, much less achieve.

For those of you poo-pooing a job building with LEGO bricks, consider LEGOs not only laid the foundation for many of today's most brilliant engineers and architects as children, but many of them still use the bricks for prototyping and development. Universities use them to train in engineering, architecture and robotics. The only reason to ever stop playing with LEGOs is a lack of curiosity or the mistaken notion that they are for kids. So, grow up... and realize that the day you stop "playing" is the day you stop learning. Thank goodness guys like Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs never stopped playing.

I am more than twice Andrew's age and proudly play with LEGOs regularly. I teach LEGO robotics classes for kids (and their parents) whenever I get a chance. Most of the time, the adults love it as much as the kids!